When it comes to soundtracks, the Rocky IV movie has one of the most classic soundtracks of all times. Not only did it give us songs as 'The Eye of the Tiger' by Survivor or 'Living In America' by James Brown, it actually has more unique facets to it's whole soundtrack. The person responsable for this is none other than Vince DiCola, a poineer in digital sampling synthesizing, making use of the Fairlight CMI sequencing system. Besides Rocky VI he also wrote the music for the eighties version of the Transformers movie. But today, we focus on the Rocky soundtrack and his way of working, using computers to compose a whole song or soundtrack, back then, was truely revolutionary.
But let's not get too technical and cut straight to the chase. We'll show you a few clips via youtube, providing you with words and music of synthesizer wisdom.
First off, we have this amazing tune "Training Montage" composed by Vince for Rocky VI, in 3 versions.
1. The original version.
2. The extended version movie version.
3. A stunning cover version by some dude named olavier
And here is an interview with Vince Dicola, talking about his soundracks like Transformers and Rocky IV, the importance of synthesized soundtracks, influences and working methods as a music composer for movies.
Additionally, we have a clip of one of Vince greatest influences, Keith Emerson, jamming out in the studio and giving us more information about the Fairlight CMI, displaying a revolutionary sound and work method. Are they making music with computers and is it costing jobs!?